Applications of e-commerce across the manufacturing supply chain to achieve the promise of e-manufacturing

New approaches to the development of manufacturing strategies based on improved
supply chain performance have made great progress. This research is undertaken to
investigate the use of the internet and web technologies to enhance supply chain
agility so the manufacturer is able to cope with make-to-order processing without
facing a panic of late delivery.

E-manufacturing is a recent concept developed to achieve higher levels of supply
chain integration and agility with the help of the internet. Its scope is greater than ebusiness
and the supply chain. The use of the internet to optimise the customeroriented
supply chain, the use of the website for more than e-commerce known as
buying and selling, these developments are immature.

As a result of a review of the literature and eight case studies, this research develops
close-up views on the following three aspects that lead to the successful
implementation of e-manufacturing in Business to Business (B2B) and Business to
Customers (B2C): (1) Requirement specification; (2) Modules development; (3)
Implementation methodology. The implementation of e-manufacturing enables the
manufacturer to tie up with its supply chain existing partners and potential partners as
an entity toward the same objectives, and brings maximum benefits to each
participant. The fulfilment of web technologies creates web surroundings which
provide the small company with an opportunity to be involved with the large
enterprise’s e-commerce systems.